


Reboot and Rebuild

by griever11



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: AU, Post 7x14, felicity and diggle make up, pregnancy reveal, season 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 03:28:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18086615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/griever11/pseuds/griever11
Summary: Another way Diggle could have found out about baby Queen. Felicity has a request that might have long-lasting effect on the Diggle - Queen families.





	Reboot and Rebuild

Felicity adjusts the strap of her handbag over her shoulders, taking a deep breath as she calms herself down. Not that she has any reason to not be calm, but as she shifts her weight from foot to foot in front of the Diggles’ door, she starts reconsidering her decision to do this while Oliver’s busy.

 

Is it too soon to blame this spontaneous visit on ‘baby brain’?  

 

Before she can change her mind and turn around to head home, the door swings open and is replaced by Dig’s hulking frame spilling out into the hallway. “You’ve been standing there for a full minute, Felicity.”

 

“Wha-”

 

“You installed security cameras for us, remember?” Diggle smirks in that gentle, ‘I’m teasing you because I love you’ way of his. He backs up, extending his arm to invite her inside. “What’s got you all twisted up? Oliver do something dumb again?”

 

Irritation cuts through her at his accusation because she’s the only one allowed to call Oliver out on doing dumb things, especially since up until recently, Diggle’s been pretty high on her shitlist for being a complete asshole himself.

 

“Oliver didn’t do anything,” she mumbles as she walks in. Then backtracks when she think about it, “Okay technically it takes two to tango, so he did do... something. But nothing dumb. Unless you’re an irresponsible teenager, then it _is_ dumb but we’re married so -”

 

“Felicity, take a breath,” Diggle chuckles. He cups her elbow with his large hand and guides her to sit on his couch. “Lyla, honey! Felicity’s here!”

 

“Oh, she’s home?” Felicity perks up immediately, because she loves Lyla to death and had always felt a kinship with since her they’ve both decided to fall head over heels for pigheaded vigilantes. And even more so now that she’s about to be a mother.

 

Yeah. _Wow_. It still feels surreal.

 

“I thought she’d be tied up at ARGUS still, with the whole Diaz going _whoosh_ thing.” She flares her fingers, mimicking flames she hoped had hurt the fuck out of that bastard before turning him into a deep fried, crispy lizard. “And the um, the gorilla versus shark whatever in Central City. You know, sometimes I think we’ve got it bad here but I’ll take our run of the mill baddies over giant animals destroying our city any day.”

 

“Yeah, King Shark - wait. That was classified. How -”

 

She arches an eyebrow at Dig. He should know better by now, honestly. “Definitely not by monitoring communications going in and out of ARGUS,” she mutters. “Just as a precaution of course, since people who die don't stay dead for long in my experience, and if there’s even a shadow of a possibility that Diaz is _not_ dead, then... well.”

 

“You sure everything is okay, Felicity?” Diggle asks, picking up on her nervousness. The slight frown on Diggle’s face is cute, adorable, really - and the snarky voice in her head wants to bite back with a ‘you didn’t care if everything is okay when you decided to go work with Diaz behind my back’ - but she restrains herself. They’re in a good place now, she tells herself. Her Dig is back.

 

“Yeah, yeah, fine. I just... oh hey, Lyla!” She stands up for a hug, which Lyla receives warmly. She pulls away after a moment, adjusting her glasses as she sits back down. “Wow, I always forget you have like... muscles.”

 

The Diggles both laugh out loud before settling into the two-seater across from her. “What can we do for you, Felicity?” Lyla asks. Felicity’s always admired Lyla for her tough-as-nails personality, but now that the slightly stern stare is fixed on her, she finds herself a little intimidated.

 

“Um, I have something to tell you. And to discuss with you,” Felicity starts, rubbing her palms together. She wishes she wasn’t so nervous - she has nothing to be nervous about, but _still._

 

God, she really should have waited for Oliver to do this. But the man, bless his soul, had promised to help Rene out in his kickboxing studio for a charity fundraiser and Felicity had been so antsy about this she didn’t want to wait any longer. They’d talked about it and he’d been fine with her going alone, somehow sensing that maybe she still had some unresolved issues with Diggle that she might want to face without him being in the room.

 

Diggle and Lyla exchange a look between them before Lyla leans forward, forehead wrinkling. “If this is about the Ghost Initiative and the whole Diaz fiasco, I want to say I’m sorry that we couldn’t tell you about it sooner.”

 

“We should have told you _from the beginning,”_ Diggle emphasises. “I realise that now. And while were doing this... when Oliver was in prison and you asked for help, God, Felicity, what I said to you, and the way I acted... I lost sight of what was important. To me. To our family. I’m so, so sorry. I let you down when you needed me most, and that’s on me.”

 

Okay. _Okay._

 

This isn’t what she had come here for but boy did she need to hear the words coming out of his mouth. She can already feel the tears pooling in her eyes from the overwhelming sense of relief over Diggle’s heartfelt apology. She’d felt so _alone_ those months fighting for Oliver’s release, like no one else cared that her entire life was locked away in Slabside, and now, hearing John’s voice crack with regret and heartache as he seeks her forgiveness - it’s _a lot._

 

“Dig...” She sniffles, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. “Dig, I... this means a lot to me.”

 

“You’ll forgive us?” Lyla checks tentatively. “I know we haven’t done much to make up for it, but I promise -”

 

Felicity raises a hand, stopping her mid-sentence. She exhales, breath shaky, overcome with emotion. “You wanna know what I’ve learned after all these years working with you guys?”

 

Diggle blinks at her.

 

“I know computers and technology. These are my areas of expertise right? And computers, tech, they’re all programmed - designed - to work exactly how they’re meant to work. If they don’t, you take it apart, knock it down, rebuild it until they do. Humans, I’ve found, are not that different. We make mistakes, sometimes we learn from it, sometimes we make them again and again before it sticks. And I think that’s... the human version of knocking down and rebuilding. You’ve made mistakes, I’ve made mistakes, and maybe we’ll come back from our mistakes as better human beings or maybe we’ll come back the same. Either way, we rebuild.”

 

Diggle makes a noise in the back of his throat just as Lyla lets out a quiet, “Felicity, honey...”

 

“No. let me finish. The two of you are like family to me. And to Oliver. I love you guys so much, which is why I know we’ll get past this. We’ll rebuild. Dig, you and Oliver have had your spats and made up. Hell, Lyla divorced and then remarried you. So, you know, you and me, Dig, we’re fine. You’ll always be my family. No matter what.”

 

She has to close her eyes when she’s done, counts back from three to keep her emotions in check. Stupid baby-making hormones. Whens she opens her eyes, both Diggle and Lyla look like they’re equally as affected as she is and _they’re_ not pregnant so maybe she can’t blame baby Queen for this one this time.

 

“But I didn’t - that’s not why I’m here,” she tells them, proud that she’s able to keep her voice steady before revealing the real reason for her visit. “Um, I’m just going to, uh. Say it, I guess. Oliver and I... we’re expecting. I’m pregnant.”

 

There’s a sharp intake of breath from Lyla, while Diggle almost falls off the couch. He stands up, whispering her name over an irreverent breath of air, pure wonder in his eyes as he hauls her into his giant arms.

 

“I’m so, oh wow, congratulations, Felicity. I’m so happy for you two,” he rumbles in her ear. “This is... amazing!”

 

She feels another set of arms curling over her back and Lyla encompasses her in a giant group hug in the middle of the Diggles’ living room.

 

“You guys are going to be great parents,” Lyla tells her. Diggle grunts in agreement and Felicity suspects that he’s trying to hide the fact that he’s about to burst out in tears himself.

 

“And...” Felicity ducks out from under their embrace. She stretches her neck, licks her lips. “You guys will be great godparents too. I mean, uh. If you want. There’s no pressure, of course, because the life we live is crazy dangerous and there’s a really high chance of you actually having to _be_ godparents and have to protect this baby, you know? ‘Cause usually people _say_ they’re godparents but they don’t really -”

 

“Felicity.”

 

Diggle interrupts her with a hand on her shoulder. He cuts a glance to Lyla, who nods, still smiling, eyes shimmering with unspoken emotion.

 

“Felicity, we would be honoured to be your baby’s godparents.”

 

Her heart thumps wildly under her chest, and her tears are falling freely now. She wants to thank them, but for once in her life, words aren’t enough and she just pulls Diggle into another hug, clutching the back of his shirt tightly in her fists.

 

“I promise, Felicity,” Diggle says, determination and conviction in his words. “With every breath in my body, and with everything that I have, this baby will be loved and protected by me, and Lyla, and our entire family. No matter what happens.”

 

She nods into his shirt, not trusting herself to speak but she’s sure they understand. She’s a blubbering mess, but Diggle doesn’t seem to mind as he holds her to him, a hand supporting the back of her head, the other loosely around her waist. He places a chaste kiss against her temple before speaking again.

 

“My blood is your blood, and we’ll always, _always_ watch out for another. Now until forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this after 7x14 aired, and was meant to be a post-ep spec fic. Unfortunately, I got lazy and didn't finish until today's ep aired, which now renders this fic as an AU. 
> 
> Nonetheless, hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Twitter: @griever_11


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